What do you do to "entertain" your baby in their waking hours?
I'm starting to feel like i am boring DD...but i don't really know what to do and she is starting to spend more and more time awake during the day. I know they probably dont experience "boredom" but i dont want to bore her iykwim.
At the moment we have a fair bit of cuddle time, on nice days i take her and the dog for abnout an hour long walk and have washing to hang out so take her outside in her rocker. Today we have been cooped up inside because it is raining and i feel like im going stir crazy...what else can i do with her at an age where she is not really interested in toys and still not overly interactive? i chat to her but normally im not a very chatty person so run out of things to say...have tried reading books to her but we've only made it through one before she started crying.
ideas would be great, im starting to feel like a bad, boring mum!
Oh, please don't feel like you are boring to your DD - you are everything to her
I think at this age babies like faces, maybe mobiles or one of those overhead baby gyms. If you are running out of things to say to her, how about singing? Pointing out her body parts? Ooooh, mirrors are fantastic!
Sounds like what you are doing already is great! They don't need too much stimulation at this age IMO. Phoebe gets very tired and cranky if too much is going on at once.
At that age, I mostly carried her in a carrier while I did boring, ordinary tasks (cooking dinner, laundry, brushing my teeth) but spoke or sang to her as I did it. We also read books, had tummy time, nappy free time, went for walks (still do all of this).
With not being overly chatty, just try explaining everything you do. I think of it like being on a cooking show... "Okay, Imogen, first we need to wash the carrots and peel them for dinner. Can you see Mummy washing the carrot under the water from the tap, Imogen? It is orange! It is quite a big, long carrot, isn't it? What does the water sound like running into the basin? Splash, splash, splash! Where else have we seen water today? Do you remember our shower this morning?". You sound like an idiot but babies just love your voice and learn from watching you!
And I doubt you are boring her! Most of all, babies just love being around us!
ETA: I second Snacks, mirrors are brilliant. They love looking at the baby in the reflection
The other girls have given you some great ideas and it sounds like you are doing a great job also bubs is still little so what you have been doing would be fine.
I am like you and really struggled to talk to bubs, I would start talking about things that I was doing but then go off into my own little world and forget to talk to her I also suffered the guilts because I thought I wasnt doing enough with her but she just loved being on the floor playing especially on her play gym watching the lights, listening to music etc and eventually swatting at the dangling toys. I still felt guilty but she was thriving. I found if I put on some music and sang to my own kind of music then, she was hearing my voice, different words and tones I found this easiers than just talking to her. I still made sure we had cuddle time and talked then and I would also show her herself in the mirror which she loved and still does love.
Now looking back I dont know what I was worrying about she is crawling now and learning like crazy its so amazing. Just enjoy her because they grow and change way too quick.
Thankyou so much I dont feel quite so bad now! I think I am going to try and get a play gym thingy for her, she only has a mobile abover her change table which she loves, and one above her cot but that one is for sleep time. Also going to get a sling, at the moment it's either her pram or bouncer for her to be more 'transportable' and i guess if i am free to move and she can come with me i can get stuff done and not be quite so bored myself.
The only mirror in our house is in the bathroom, and its just on the bathroom cupboard. have been in there a few times with her but she doesnt seem that interested...maybe she just cant see it properly because i have to hold her in a sort of awkward position for her to see in it.
Great ideas Snacks & Jitterbug, thankyou! I think I'm just going to have to work on my talking! I'm a fairly quiet person, if I dont have anything to say then i wont say anything...find it difficult to blab on about nothing and sometimes just cant be bothered talking at all..lol. But for my daughter's sake I will work on it! Thanks!
Thanks Salad, will also chuck on some of my music and sing along...i had even been singing along to the ads on telly while watching it at night! lol
Yep SS if you dont already have a play gym then I think you should get one. In my honest opinion I believe the play gym taught Georgia so much ad she used it from birth to right up to only a couple of weeks ago and it is portable so you can take it to friends/relatives houses etc. The only reason we have put it away is that she has started to stand and hold onto the couch etc. We got the fisher price one its a jungle theme - its the one with a giraffe on it you wont miss it. We got it at big w. It plays forest sounds, or just music and it has lights. You can also set it so that she has to tap the play gym or the toys to get the music to go. When Georgia was a newborn we used to just play the music on constant for her then as she got a little older we set it to the tap mode and she worked out really quickly that she had to make it work herself. You can change the toys hanging from it all the time and it has a mirror on it aswell and Georgia used to love catching sight of herself in it. She also has a mobile over change table and this is the other thing that I believe taught her heaps so keep it where it is.
Singing the ads is a great idea, I dont know if it was listening to so much music when I was pregnant or the fact that we play alot of music in the car but Georgia started to dance (she sways her top half) whenever she hears music it is so cute. Music is good for them I think.
Oh so snap! I was coming to post for ideas for 3-6 month olds!
Here are some of my boredom busters (for you as well!) for 0-3 months.
- Brushing bubs hair (or lack of hair!) with a soft brush while talking to her
- Getting different textured material and gently brushing it over her hands and face "ooh soft, isn't the velvet soft" "ooh, this one's different, can you feel the terry towelling" etc this is good when folding up her clothes as there are lots of textures in the mix to play with
-Fill a water bottle with some rice or peas and make a shaker "what was that sound?"
-Bath time is an activity all in itself!
-Get a picnic rug, any old blanket and put it in the backyard on sunny days. You can have a cuppa while she looks at different things. Point out birds, trees etc.
-Let bubs have some play time in the cot with toys/mobile to look at. I found I was constantly in my bubs face and forgot to let her have her own time to explore
-Explore different sounds like wrinkling newspaper or plastic or jinngling bells
-Want to read a trash mag? Read it to bubs and tell her all about that "naughty Prince Harry and look, theres the queen, isn't she pretty..."
-Have a cuddle and show bub photos of the family and tell her about where she comes from and who makes up her tribe.
-Walk around the house and tell her about the rooms - "this is the bathroom, this is where we get clean"
-Give bub a foot massage, use cream if you want to but you can just whip off her socks and rub her feet while singing or talking to her.
Anyway, good luck! I need activities ideas too so will be watching this thread!
winter if you like you can PM me your email address and I can email you with a list of activities to do with children of all ages that are free there are over 200. I spoke about this in another thread too. This offer extends to anyone else interested too feel free to pm me.
We had nappy free time after her bath today and she peed all over the lambswool rug! Ahh well guess there is a price to pay for having fun. Lol.
Have a work colleague who had twins about a month before DD was born, so am going to make a play date with her and DD can have a kick around with her two girls for a bit.
Had a search on ebay for play gyms, the FP one sounds and looks good Salad. Will have a chat to DF when he gets home to see if he wants to try and buy one from there or if we just go to big w and pay a bit more, but have it sooner.
Winter thanks for your list too! DF is going to think I have gone crazy wandering around the house like a tour guide and making lots of noise! Lol
I try to get out at least once a day (we have a dog to walk too), and as often as possible I actually get out and meet a friend for coffee, go to my mum's group meeting, etc. That gives DD some different people to look at and, increasingly, interact with.
Other activities I was doing when she was about the age of yours (gee, it's only a couple of months ago and it feels like forever) included:
- giving her a bath
- as much tummy time as possible
- as much nappy-free and general naked time as possible (our heating bills this winter are scary!). This helps her discover her own body more easily. Lots of rolling her around on the floor, so she can feel what different positions feel like, even before she could do them on her own.
- lots and lots of talking to her and letting her watch my face as I say things. She was so fascinated by my face, and increasingly interactive with her expressions and the "words" she said
- sitting together and reading a book (or a magazine, or a webpage, or anything really - it's not like the content matters much at this stage, but never too soon to start reading). She started looking at the pictures by the time she was 2 months old, and since 3 months she has been interested in turning the pages of board books (not that she's very good at that yet...)
- walking to the shops
I tried to do a different main activity on each wakeup, so 5 or 6 of those a day, most of them repeated each day. It does get boring, though. I can sympathise. Getting out to meet with other mums helps a lot, so if you can get to a parents group meeting or a playgroup, or just meeting people in the park, that might help relieve the tedium.
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Playing with/entertaining baby
I also suffered the guilts because I thought I wasnt doing enough with her but she just loved being on the floor playing especially on her play gym watching the lights, listening to music etc and eventually swatting at the dangling toys. I still felt guilty but she was thriving. I found if I put on some music and sang to my own kind of music then, she was hearing my voice, different words and tones I found this easiers than just talking to her. I still made sure we had cuddle time and talked then and I would also show her herself in the mirror which she loved and still does love.
I dont feel quite so bad now! I think I am going to try and get a play gym thingy for her, she only has a mobile abover her change table which she loves, and one above her cot but that one is for sleep time. Also going to get a sling, at the moment it's either her pram or bouncer for her to be more 'transportable' and i guess if i am free to move and she can come with me i can get stuff done and not be quite so bored myself.
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